Looking For Opinions On Worldwide Mixture

I recently made my first purchase of a worldwide mixture (2000 stamps, $30 including shipping) from an ebay seller. I have done a preliminary sort by country and definitive/commemorative and wanted to get some opinions as to whether is it was a good or bad buy.

It's count is over 2000 stamps. While it was an off-paper mix, I ended up soaking a fair number to get rid of heavy hinges, still stuck-on paper bits, etc. It also came with 50 "bonus" stamps (Cuba CTOs). The mixture is about 60% definitives/40% commemoratives. That count is very rough as I am a complete n00b at worldwide collecting. As I put the stamps onto album pages I am going to refine these numbers.

There are stamps from at least 70 different countries in the mixtures. The country breakdown is:

Germany: 28%
Great Britain: 12%
Australia: 6%
Netherlands: 4%
France: 4%
Belgium: 4%
U.S.: 4%
Chile: 3%
Italy: 3%
all other: 32%

The duplication doesn't look too bad and there were very few damaged stamps. The German stamps look to be about 60/40 definitives/commemoratives. However, the GB stamps are at 10/90 (lots of Machins).

So, what's the verdict?

Regards...

The verdict? You spent far too much time on data collecting.

Sounds like a lot of fun. Linn's used to have a regular column which did exactly the kind of assessment as you did, dk. I haven't read a Linn's in many years as it is far to USA-centric, but I would not be surprised to hear if the column is still a regular one.

If you had fun, doing it your way, at 1.5 cents average per stamp, then IMHO you didn't spend too much time on any part of your endeavor. :-)

Almost anything is worth 2 cents per stamp. I'd say you did just fine.

Think of the cost per hour, and you are way below movies, golf or skiing. Even if you are enjoying a single malt at the same time.

Got pix?

Yeah, at 1.5 cents per stamp you have to expect it's going to be mostly common material with some stamps in less than ideal condition. If they're all or mostly different and mostly in good shape, you basically got your money's worth. If there's a lot of duplicates and/or there is a large percentage of faulty stamps, it might be a little different.

shermae is thinking of "Kitchen Table Philately", which is still a regular feature of Linn's.

U$D 30 gets you two movie tickets, or about four hours of entertainment.

It also gets you one new hardback book, which for me is probably >10 hours of entertainment.

Q/ Let's say you threw away the stamps. How much did you pay, per hour, for your entertainment?

Cheers,

Thanks for the responses. Nice to have conformation that the mixture is an overall good "value".

So is it typical for a worldwide mixture to have one or two countries dominate, with a smattering of other countries? By paying more per stamp, do the mixtures get "better" in terms of having more commemoratives and being more diverse?

Whenever I feel like buying a mixture, I buy from Ron Carmichael. He tells you exactly what the mixture is composed of and many times has scans of the actual lot you are buying. His prices are all over the place, but I've never been disappointed in one of his mixtures.

http://stores.ebay.com/roncarmichae...047675.l2563

For example, if you're looking for a worldwide mixture, in a lot of 2,000 stamps priced at $30, the description is as follows:

there are about 2,000 stamps here (there could be more or less than this)
there is everything of all ages here, while the highlights pictures tend to show modern stuff there is all ages material here
there are large and small stamps, see statistics below
while the vast majority is off paper, there is a wee bit of material on paper in this mixture
because the source is European, there are a lot of European stamps here, especially Germany, check the statistics below
as with any mixture:
there will be duplication, significant in some issues!
there will be mixed condition
Do take time to look at the pictures!

For the statistically minded, samples yielded: (note that because of the level of detail these % are pretty specific, please just use them as a guideline so you have an idea of the relative % of the various aspects of this mixture)

about 33% commemoratives
about 28% mint or postally used
about 12% Germany
about 16% other countries
about 5% CTO (eastern european, trucials etc)

about 67% definitives
about 64% mint or postally used
about 17% Germany
about 47% other countries
about 3% CTO (eastern european, trucials etc)

Yes, the more you pay, the better the stamps will be. Depending on what you're interested in, some sellers offer mixtures of only commemorative stamps.

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Depends really on the dealer / seller. Some do as you say, some jam many from one country in the mix.

I enjoy good pictures of what I am buying now, although for cheaper stamps, you need to trust the seller, as his skills as a photo taker may not be the skills that make his business popular.

Always read the description.



Usually yes for quality or bank mxtures, but there are always exceptions.

Look at the pictures, judge whether the pictures are from a best seen, best sold perspective, and judge how much you are paying for the stamps you do want, as compared to the stamps you may receive that are damaged beyond what you will acceept, or that you can use.

Buying packets is one of my favorite ways to buy stamps and I buy at least a couple of them a week; I do my share of soaking them off paper as well. I end up with a lot of duplicates that I sell as packets on ebay. Speaking for myself, I put in whatever I have laying around, and it's usually predominantly European stamps, although it does vary. Next week I could end up with a ton of Ecuador stamps that I don't want that will work their way in to the mix. I imagine most sellers do the same on the cheapest (per stamp) lots. Lots with better variety and higher value stamps will generally be higher priced, although still quite reasonable.

Thanks for the second tranche of info. Very helpful, although it as it is going to take me awhile to mount what I have, it may be a couple of months before I am in the market for another mixture.

And just a quick note on the time that it takes to produce stats -- it ain't all that much. I have to sort the stamps regardless. Typing the names of the countries into a Google spreadsheet takes about 5 minutes. Counting the stamps and entering the counts into the spreadsheet takes about 10 minutes. Throw in another 5 minutes to build the calculations and make the sheet "look pretty" and I am at 20 minutes. I put in the time over two days in small increments that I fit in as breaks between other tasks. Given my penchant for "quantifying" (count, measure, estimate, calculate, etc.) it is time well spent. Adds to that entertainment value that Cjd and ikeyPikey referred to. But obviously, YMWV.

The time spent sorting, cataloging and inventory-ing is part of the enjoyment for me. Rarely do I catalog an entire mixture, unless it's one that's so good that I'm flabbergasted by it, like getting about $400 in CV in a $3 packet. Lots that good don't happen often, but it's happened more than once. When I get something like that, I tally them up just to see how flabbergasted I should be!

Sounds like you got a deal all the way around. And I'll agree with someone who mentioned Carmichael. I got my first couple mixtures from him when I started collecting ages ago and I've never regretted it. Some of my best Japanese finds came from his mixes.

I have good luck using sellers from the Linn's classified ads. Some are better than others and many send lists out. I did manage to pickup some good foreign off paper this past weekend at the Richmond, IN stamp show. Three pounds off paper $51 and not much duplication with a lot of large stamps. Dealer from Fort Wayne

I did buy some US definitive (don't know why) 2 lbs for $3, I will look for errors.